I'll be honest, I haven't played a Pro Evolution Soccer game since the PlayStation 2 days but after the series lagged behind EA's FIFA juggernaut for the last few years, I'm keen to try the series again on a current-gen platf...

The idea of the console war -- that the big console makers are locked in this all-or-nothing struggle for hearts and minds -- has gotten sillier as I've gotten older. Still, Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer has told Game Informe...

Considering most of the Metal Gear Solid games have been re-released in various fashions over the years, it's surprising that Hideo Kojima isn't too keen on remaking his older games. When asked at Konami's Metal Gear Solid V ...

Okay, maybe the snarky headline was a bit mean but the devs behind Forza Horizon 2 are really making sure that you know that the game is social and connected. Aside from those buzzwords, what does that actually mean in terms...

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Folk have been wondering what Michel Ancel's new project is and today we got our answer, WiLD. We saw a lovely looking trailer with lush forest, verdant grasslands and a pair of hunters trying to live off the land.
Anc...

The last racing game to really hook me was Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit thanks, in no small measure, to the Autolog. Racing against friends was compulsive and really fun, so if Driveclub can do the same but let me race with m...

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I still don't know a lot about The Vanishing of Ethan Carter apart from some beautiful screenshots and an intriguing name. Thankfully this gamescom trailer from Sony's press conference didn't give a lot away; is it a supernatural murder mystery game? Sure, sign me up for some that.

LittleBigPlanet is coming back to a Sony console, with LittleBigPlanet 3 coming to PS4 on November 18.
Sackboy is back and he's brought some new friends with him -- Oddsock, Swoop, and Toggle -- which will hopefully mean we'll see unique characters used in co-op games, instead of lots of Sackboys (cute as they are). Check out the new trailer above.

True story time, kids: On Friday, there was a power outage in my apartment complex and when it was restored a few hours later, my PC refused to boot. I'm hoping it's just the PSU that's blown but my suspicions are that my mot...

We've already gotten the news from Activision's Call of Duty event earlier today but there's plenty of big things happening at gamescom this week. Here's an idea of when you're going to hear all the news from Microsoft, Sony,...

I know one of the ways I'm going to fill the gap between now and the release of Hotline Miami 2 later this year is.... by playing more Hotline Miami. Especially now as Devolver Digital is releasing the original Hotline Miami...

Pre-orders seem like they're part and parcel of videogame culture -- retailers want your money as soon as possible and publishers like to gauge how many people want a particular game. However, Activision Publishing president ...

Aug 06 //
Alasdair Duncan
Sacred 3 (PC [reviewed], PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)Developer: Keen GamesPublisher: Deep SilverMRSP: $59.99/£39.99Release: August 1, 2014 (Europe) / August 5, 2014 (North America)
Where to begin? Let's start with the story that has the Dark Elf lord Zane invading the peaceful region of Arcania where a sacred artifact is held. Standing in his way are a band of heroes who are committed to foiling his plans, along with a powerful telepath Aria. It's all fairly standard fantasy stuff but there's a real disconnect between the fantasy trope of invading dark army/plucky band of unique heroes and the tone of how it all plays out.
From the chirpy voice over to the silly dialog that robs villains of any sense of dread or malevolence, Sacred 3 seems to be in search of whether to play it straight or not. The first few levels have your hero chasing Karr Tel, a pirate and slaver who is evil enough to destroy an entire city but silly enough to taunt you about how bad scurvy is. One character even uses the term "noob.
The lighthearted tone permeates some parts of the game (look at some of the silliness in the characters' bio pages) but not all of them. There's nothing wrong with humor in a game like this but why not go all the way and make the character's special moves funny or satirical? Sacred 3 is happy enough to have a horny wizard shout remarks about threeways but most of the game is played totally straight and the attempts at humor are jarring and just not funny.
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There are four heroes to choose from: Claire the Seraphim, a swift swordswoman; Alithea the Lancer, a ranged warrior; Marak the Safari, a tough tank class; and Vajra the Archer who deals in ranged damage. All the classes do handle slightly differently but you'll spend a good deal of your time left clicking on things until they die or blow up, which is what you'd expect from an action-RPG.
You are, however, limited to just a two supplemental attacks -- one light and one heavy. As you unlock them by progressing through the game, each hero will have three or four to select from but progression is really slow; to fully unlock one of Alithea's starting skills (which only has four levels), you'll need to progress to level 33 which is a real slog. Gating progression is expected but usually there's plenty of leeway in customizing your character's skills and talents; in Sacred 3, you're really only presented with a single option every time you level up.
What's also missing is all the sweet loot that you'd normally crave. Weapons are dished out at the end of a level but you're left with one main weapon for an entire mission. Having limited weapons does mean that they all feel slightly distinctive, and picking one for an entire mission means you have time to get used to it, but there's a lack of weight to the combat.
Some bonuses that are bestowed by captured spirits can buff certain attacks and do make a difference and it's neat that there are bonuses and penalties that will affect your character and party, so there's room for some customization. Like a lot of games, there's more enjoyment to be had here in co-op, especially if there's some good cooperation between players as to controlling large groups of enemies and targeting specific champions.
It's a shame that for every good thing that game does, there's two or three things dragging it down. The charge-up gust that's mapped to the right mouse button is a great addition as allows you to break enemy shields, disrupt traps, and knock over smaller enemies but aiming is done with the mouse so you have to constantly adjust your character's position with the keyboard. The dodge command is mapped to the space bar but again, you'll dodge in the direction the mouse cursor is pointing. This does take a lot of getting used to and once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to zip round the battlefield. Playing with a controller works just fine as an alternative rather than using the WASD keys for movement.
Visually, the game does a decent job of presenting itself. Shown mainly from an isometric viewpoint, the character models are distinct but there's plenty of times when there's so much happening it's hard to make out how many enemies you're facing.
There's a nice scale to the levels -- these aren't your dank dungeons as most are happening outside during the daylight. Occasionally, the camera will shift to an alternate angle. There's an impressive amount of things happening on lower levels, like trolls tossing rocks at a city or a mass jailbreak happening. The character design is so-so but it's fairly easy to tell each hero apart on the battlefield when you're playing co-op.
As I mentioned earlier, it seems churlish to criticize Sacred 3 for breaking away from the series' APRG roots but the problem is that there's nothing that quite fills the gap of leveling up your character or voraciously guzzling loot drops. For all its streamlining of the leveling systems and loot, Sacred 3 just feels lightweight and simplistic. That's not even mentioning the flat attempts at humor and some crude jokes that you'll be putting up with in the early levels.
As it stands, Sacred 3 feels distinctly average. The game works well enough at what it presents and is largely annoyance-free (though the checkpointing system could be better and I had a save-game issue where my progress wasn't saved from one session to another) but there's better and more rewarding games out there right now that you should seek out first.

Taking the action and RPG out of an ARPG"I love it."
The specter of Diablo looms large over the action-RPG genre; most games borrow heavily from Blizzard's seminal game and those games' success is usually judged on how close they stick to the formula and how well t...

There aren't too many games that can promise a "less is more" experience. Most of the time, games are trying to cram more and more features and controls to build a well-rounded experience. Point Perfect is a bit different; t...

Another day, another delay. It turns out that Wasteland 2 will be likely be missing the August launch date for a release in the first half of September instead. An update on the game's Kickstarter page revealed the delay is d...

Aug 01 //
Alasdair Duncan
Gods Will Be Watching (PC [reviewed], Mac, Linux)Developer: DeconstucteamPublisher: Devolver DigitalMRSP: $9.99 / £6.99Released: July 24, 2014
Gods Will Be Watching is one of the most grueling gaming experiences you can have. It puts you in charge of characters who are in a real tough spot and tasks you to simply survive. It's not easy and you'll gnash your teeth at the frustration of it all but it's worth grinding through -- there's a good story here about survival, camaraderie, and what a person will do to stay alive.
Set against a backdrop of rebellion in an oppressive intergalactic empire (they've banned coffee!), Sgt. Burden must keep his group of researchers alive while stranded on an icy planet. The narrative jumps around between different time periods so pay attention, as there's some plot details that are easy to miss if you're just clicking through all the dialogue.
The game will put you in a number of scenarios that you'll have to "manage," for lack of a better term, to succeed. Although Gods Will Be Watching controls like a point-'n'-click adventure game, it doesn't play like one. The challenge comes not from puzzle solving, but from keeping track of different factors in the scenario that you have to balance to succeed.
Take the opening situation, which sees you control a Xenolifer rebel called Abraham. He's tasked with keeping a group of hostages under control as the rebel leader Liam tries to hack into a secure database. While he's doing that, a security team is slowing inching its way forward and if it gets to the door, it's curtains for the rebels.
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The key here is balance. You need to make sure the hostages are fairly calm -- but not so calm that they get confident and try to take Abraham out -- and not too scared that they decide to make a run for it. You can berate and kick them to keep them in line and even shoot them in the legs if you decide it's necessary.
Rebel member Jack is keeping watch at the door and can fire a few shots to get the security team to back off or try and threaten them to stay put or the hostages will die. The former will scare the hostages but will force the security team to retreat while negotiating will make them hold their position but won't rattle your captives. You must maintain the situation while Liam is hacking the database and it just feels like it takes so long for that progress bar to move on.
Let's get this out of the way here: you will fail this mission the first time you try it. You'll also fail the second time, the third, and most likely the fourth. Maybe at the fifth attempt you'll get close to completing the hack.
The most important thing to note is the turn process which isn't labelled on any HUD but shows up on your list of options as either red or cyan. Red options will usually move the scenario forward, like for instance the security team will move along the corridor in the hostage situation if you select a red action. Cyan options tend to have no consequence or don't put anything at risk, like alternating the security camera or non-critical dialogue options.
Understanding the difference between the two and realizing that you have a set amount of turns to last, or manage, is key to succeeding. It does take away some of the immersion in the experience though as scenarios become more like working out an optimal order in which to have your actions play out.
That's not to say that there's a fixed way of getting through things as characters' responses will vary and it certainly doesn't feel like the same things play themselves out time after time. While each scenario is designed to be replayed, it can get frustrating having to play an entire sequence repeatedly only to fail right at the end.
The story is really interesting, full of intrigue and deception and the dialogue is pretty well written but once you see the same lines pop up again and again, some of that freshness starts to drip away. What also diminishes the drama is the flatness of presentation; while the art style is well executed and colorful, everything is presented in flat text so it can be hard to gauge any kind of nuance or subtlety in a conversation.
This just adds to the mechanical feel of each chapter, which isn't there the first time you play a scenario; it's just, each time you fail, the game feels more and more mechanical. There are effective bits of sound design that are sparingly used, including one wince-inducing moment involving a hammer and some teeth.
Gods Will Be Watching is a tough sell as it's a game that only gives out as much as you put into it. When you fail, take a step back, examine the scenario, and work out a better strategy. Then just keep at it and you'll find you're able to make progress and unravel a rewarding story.
There aren't that many chapters in total, so while it's short in structure you are going to play each chapter over and over again. Achievements add little challenges to each scenario but please don't try for them on your first round. There is an easy mode which isn't the default and it's still rather hard; consider knocking down the difficulty if you start to enter double digits for the first few chapters, at least until you get an idea of what strategy you'll need.
This is a unique game, presented as a traditional point-'n'-click adventure title but more focused on strategy and planning instead of puzzle solving. If you push on and don't give up, you'll be rewarded -- just expect a few heartbreaking moments first.

There are no easy answersGods Will Be Watching is a tough game. It puts the player in positions that they'd rather not be in and asks them to make difficult choices. In order to succeed at a mission, you may have to do unthinkable things, betray your morals, and become a monster just to survive a little longer.
It's also tough in another sense: the game is bloody hard.

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Personally, I blame the World Cup for distracting me from the news that the team behind the great Fallout fan-film, Nuka Break, launched its Kickstarter to fund the filming of future episodes. Thankfully, film makers Wayside...

Jul 15 //
Alasdair Duncan
Abyss Odyssey (PC [reviewed], PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)Developer: ACE TeamPublisher: AtlusMSRP: $14.99/£10.99 Released: July 15, 2014
Santiago, 1890: strange cracks in the ground have appeared across the city, revealing a nether realm of monsters and unusual beings.
While the army tries to hold back the nightmarish tide, a strange woman appears, brandishing a sword and leaping into the fray to fight back. Her name is Katrien and she reveals these creatures and the Abyss itself are aspects of the mind of a powerful warlock.
All of this is the setup of a particularly unique type of roguelike, a game that's closer to the recent Sunless Sea than The Binding of Issac or Spelunky. Those two games were more centered about you gaining knowledge and experience to help you progress a little further each time but Abyss Odyssey is built more about repeating levels and grinding XP to help the player progress.
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While Abyss Odyssey has permadeath of sorts, it's not implemented in the ways you're used to; for starters, if Katrien or one of the other player characters should fall, a soldier will take over and can revive the fallen hero if they're able to get to a shrine that might be in the level. This is neat because the soldier will level up along with the main hero (but will still be the weaker of the two). Sometimes it's easier to just run away from combat and try and find the nearest shrine, especially if you passed one on the way.
Players will retain XP and their level between deaths, along with any money they've found. This is where the real progression lies as the more a player levels up, the easier the enemies will be in the earlier dungeons. There's still some difficulty spikes though, like some mini-bosses that will dish out a real beating even if you've breezed through the upper levels.
It's here where frustration can set in as progress can feel quite slow at times, especially when you've replayed the opening few levels eight or nine times already. The procedurally-generated layouts aren't varied enough to make each run stand out, so you're left with a feeling of spinning your wheels while slowly getting your rewards.
There's three entrances to the Abyss, each with its own set of levels descending deeper and deeper into the ground. Each level is procedurally generated and the difficulty level will be different each time you play, although that really only manifests itself in the enemies that you encounter. Things like spikes and lava pits don't drastically increase the challenge and in the first few hours, you'll only see a handful of enemies. The difficulty will ramp up to the point where you're going to just whittle down the amount of health you have until your eventual demise.
Don't be fooled, though -- enemies are still tough to deal with even on Easy levels. Undead soldiers and the freakish-looking, armless birdmen are tricky on their own but once you're facing two or three of them at a time, it becomes really important for the player to keep their guard up and pick off the weaker enemies first. They'll dodge projectile attacks and will chase you down, although there were plenty of times when I was slightly higher up than some enemies and they simply left me alone to wail on a single opponent without joining in. Some have counter attacks that will flip you up into the air leaving you vulnerable to combos and others will wield poisoned or cursed weapons. In a nice touch, it's clear when enemies are holding special weapons and things like keys, which makes it easier to know who you should take out first.
The combat in Abyss Odyssey is surprising in its depth. Each character can only wield one main weapon (different soldiers wield different firearms as their special attack), but there's still a lot to master. Enemies are smart enough to dodge and weave out of the way of your attacks, even at the easier difficulty levels. Swipes can hit enemies that are behind the player and while it's tempting to just button-mash, it's much more effective to get in a few hits between blocks. One frustration is that it's easy to get your character facing the wrong way.
Katrien is the more balanced of the three playable characters, especially in terms of speed when compared to the Ghostly Monk. There's a range of moves that all characters have, from cancelling out of the special attacks to utilizing the air dodge to launch a new combo. While I'm hesitant to say Abyss Odyssey has the same depth of moves as something like Street Fighter IV, it has a much more robust fighting system than you'd expect from a game that appears to be a 2D action-platformer. The addition of two-player co-op makes fight sequences even more frantic and enjoyable.
Another neat feature is the ability to possess enemies and use them as a secondary character. If you can accumulate enough mana, you can unleash a binding spell that will capture an adversary and allow you to flip between them and your main character. Your captured character has a separate health bar, so it's worth alternating between the two and taking advantage of any health drops to get your main all healed up.
However, it would have been nice if this was explained at the start of the game; a lot of the small fundamental mechanics aren't properly introduced, which maddeningly enough extends to the no-death tutorial/prologue at the start. There are markers that point out where you should block, dash, and so forth but there's no button prompts to tell you how to actually do those moves. I had to exit to the main menu and look at the controller config screen to figure out what I had to do. That sense of discovery can be exciting to some but here it feels like a barrier to progress.
In a game like this where mastering the mechanics is key, there's a lot to learn early on in Abyss Odyssey and it can feel slightly overwhelming. Once you understand that you're only expected to get so far in, die, and come back again, you'll be able to get into a groove that allows you to explore further and further. While it would be nice to see some more variety in the level layouts and early enemies, there's still a really enjoyable and deep combat system that's reason enough to descend into the Abyss.
[Note: There are some planned community goals that will affect the state of certain parts of the game but this wasn't able to be tested before release.]

A strange mix of 2D combat and surreal visualsOne thing you can't accuse Chilean developer ACE Team of doing is ploughing the same, well trodden ground as other indie devs. Its debut hit Zeno Clash combined a surrealistic art style with first-person, melee combat, while ...

Mobile-to-PC ports don't have the best of track records but I've got some high hopes for the home computer version of Pivvot, a great mobile game which was one of my favorites from 2013.
It has such a simple concept: to keep...

Jul 09 //
Alasdair Duncan
4PM [PC]Developer: Bojan BrboraPublisher: 4PM GameMRSP: $4.99Release: July 9, 2014
It's hard to talk a lot about the specifics of 4PM's story without giving away some of the important story beats and it wouldn't be fair to spoil those moments.
Suffice to say, Caroline seems to be having quite a few of these mornings where she wakes up with blurred vision and wearing last night's expensive party dress. There's quite a few clues lying around that this isn't the first time she's enjoyed a night on the town but today is going to be the day when Caroline is going to have to snap out of this cycle.
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Throughout the day, there's flashbacks to events both recent and in the past and slowly Caroline's life comes into focus. There's items and bits of dialogue that will help fill in the larger picture about how Caroline has gotten in this state. There's no puzzles to solve -- merely objects and items that will explain a lot about Caroline's past.
Again, it's hard to talk about any specifics as 4PM isn't a long game by any means. (Something that's politely pointed out the bottom of the Steam store page.) There's no inventory, abstract logic, or environmental puzzles. This isn't an adventure game.
Looks-wise, 4PM is uneven; there's a stylish fugue that coats the visuals which makes sense considering Caroline's inebriated state. The environments all look fine but some of the facial models are pretty poor. On my PC, there was repeated graphical glitching in certain areas that broke some of the background textures, which was distracting.
The voice work is good and it's in the climatic scenes that the emotion is really ramped up by the lead characters. There's very little padding here and there's some interesting alternative paths that can lead to some very different outcomes.
Your mileage with 4PM will vary; the game tries to tackle subjects like addiction and loss, guilt and blame, but never in a preaching way.
It's an example of the difficult things in life being explored through the life of a single person. Of course, there's the usual gaps in the narrative that happens when you take control of someone's life without any prior knowledge but after a series of revelations, you'll understand why Caroline would have forgotten significant events.
If you've got no ties to the themes 4PM is attempting to address, especially considering its short length (under an hour if that), you might not find that it resonates as much as it could. However, if you're wanting to have a short and dramatic interactive story, 4PM is a mature and refreshing story.

This short but impactful interactive story doesn't pull any punchesIf you're like me, then you'll have staggered out of a pub, wandered home, and then tried to fill in the blanks but, like a favorite song of mine says, it's just the best bits that are colored in.
I can't honestly say there's...